Means for humidifying the air of rooms.



ma. 670,237. Patented Mar. le, 19m'.

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MMS FR HUEHDIFVIME THE AIB 0F RUDS.

(Appue'ation med sape. 4, 1900.)

(No Edal.)

.as possible the consumption of water.

first, the outside air is drawn into the room apparatus.

Nits STATES ATENT OFFICE.

PAUL KESTNER, 0F LILLE, FRANCE.

MEANS FOR H-UIVILIDIFYING THE AIR OF ROOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 670,237, dated March19, 1901.

Application filed September 4, 1900. Serial No. 29.019. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, PAUL KESTNER, acitzen ot' the Republic of France,anda residentof Lille, France, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Means for Humidifying the Air of Rooms, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Numerous systems have been tried for supplying moisture to the air, suchas that ofcausing a current of air from a ventilator to pass over anexpanse of water or over porous surfaces kept constantly Wet.

The object of my invention is to supply the air with a very considerabledegree of moisture and at the same time to restrict. as much A furtheradvantage is that a uniform hygrometrical condition of the air isproduced in every part of the room and the temperature in summer can beconsiderably lowered.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a horizontal section throughthe walls of a room, showing my improved apparatus in plan view arrangedtherein. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of said room and apparatus, thewalls of the room being sectioned; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail Viewof the spraying V represents a centrifugal ventilator placed at one endof the room. The suction-pipe of this ventilator communicates with apipe T of large diameter, which extends the Whole length of the room andcommunicates with the outer air at A. This pipe T is provided with twolateral branches T T', which can be closed by dampers r r and Which areprovided with openings o o o. The tube T is provided with another damperR for shutting oi communication with the air outside the room. By thisarrangement, therefore,

at A, when the damper R is opened and the dampers r r are closed;second, the air of the room can be drawn into the pipe by closing thedamper R and opening the dampers r r, and, third, air can be drawn intothe pipe both from the exterior and the interior simultaneously byopening all three dampers or they may be adjusted so that the exteriorand interior air may be drawn into the pipe in any desired proportions.

The ventilator forces the air back into a At M a pipe Z, provided with avalve h, con- Veys water to the center of the pipe T. The pipe T (shownon a larger scale in Fig. 3) is provided with openings or inlets .Ethrough its bottom, slanting in the direction followed by the current ofair.

Mode of operation: Let us new suppose the ventilator V t-o'be set inmotion at a sufticient speed to occasion in the pipe T a current of airmoving at the rate of not less than ten meters per second. Letus alsosuppose the damper R to be closed and the dam pers 1 r to be open. Thesuction of air willunder these circumst-ances take place ato 0 o, andthe air will be expelled through p p p at the opposite end of the room.Thus a circulation of air will be established between the poin ts pppand 0 0 0, asindicated byarrows in the drawings. This circulation isslow, it must be admitted, but it suiices to cause all the molecules ofar in the room to pass at least once every hour through the system ofpipes and the ventilator. Let us noW introduce water in the form of alight jet or spray through the pipe Z by opening the valve h. ThisWater, meeting a rapid current of air, will be dispersed or iinelydivided, and in this state it will be drawn along with the air-current,which will absorb a portion thereof. After having traversed a certaindistance the least-divided particles of water willvfall to the bottom ofthe pipe. The object of the inlets or openings x a: will nowbe'apparent. Theyserve to form fresh sprays of the Wat-er which hasfallen to the bottom of the pipe. (Seo Fig. 3.) Through these inlets oropenings a small quantity of air finds access to the interior of thepipe T, rushing in with a very great velocity. lMeeting the water owingalong the `bottom of the pipe, these currents disperse it again in theform of fine showers or spray, which strike against the walls of thepipe, and thus keep them continually Wet. A. certain quantity of the IOOwater thus dispersed evaporates and on arriving at the ventilator aconsiderable quan? tity will have been absorbed by the air in the pipe.The current, still drawing with it the excess of 4non-evaporated water,reaches the ventilator, where the water is again dispersed and mixesintimately with the air. Thus an intense evaporation is produced, owing`to the mingling of water and air in close contact and the friction ofthe air along the surfaces of the passages, which, as has been stated,are being continually moistened by the sprays. The excess ofnon-evaporated water on leaving the ventilator is precipitated at thebottom of the box s, and the saturated air finally escapes into the roomthrough the openings p p.

It will be seen that this apparatus constitutes a powerful evaporator.Not a drop of water introduced at M can escape without having beenseveral times dispersed within the pipe T and again in the ventilator. yIf the quantity of water introduced is less than the air can absorb, thewhole of it will be evaporated during its passage through the pipe, andconsequently none will pass out at p. On the other hand, by introducingan excess of wat-er at M in proportion to the length of 'the pipe theair which passes out at p p p will be found to be almost completelysaturated. By a simple adjustment of the tap h, therefore, in accordancewith the state of the air, as shown by the hygrometers in the room, theexact quantity of water can besupplied to give the required degree ofmoisture to the air, and this moisture will be equally distributedthroughout the room,'owing to the circulation produced between p p p ando 0 o in the direction of the arrows, as already explained.

Early in the morning, when the air is dry,

vthe tap h should be fully turned on; but as soon as therequisite-humidity has been given to the air the supply of water can belessened and regulated according to necessity during the rest of theday.

Steam may be introduced at M instead of water to moisten the air morerapidly and bring it into the required hygrometric condition or when itis desired to heat the air instead of to cool it.

In the circulation of air above described theontside air is not utilizedand the air within the room can be rapidly saturated. To

admit the outer air, the damper R is opened entirely or partially,according to circumstances. If only the outer air is required to bedrawn into the pipe T, the dampers rbeing closed, small openings at c cwill allow the air expelled at p p p to escape in the direction of thedotted arrows. Thus the same regular circulation of air will be secured.The lastdescribed circulation-namely, of air drawn from outside thebuilding-is that usually preferred in summer. The outer air (beinggenerally the drier the warmer it is) is susceptible of evaporating alarge proportion of water. In its passage through the pipT and theventilator the evaporation is so intense that its temperature issensibly lowered. In the heat of summer this lowering of the temperatureby the caloric absorbed in the process of evaporation often equals from6 to 8V centigrade.

The system herein described may be varied according to circumstances.For instance, in large rooms and halls several sets of the apparatus maybe arranged; also, insteadof drawing in air at one end of the room orhall and driving it out at the other end the suction may take place atboth ends or sides and the air be driven out in the middle of the roomor hall.

Having fully described my invention,what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the pipe T having bottom openings or inletsslanting in the direction of the current, and valve R to shut olcommunication with the outer air, the perforated cross-pipe T', thesuction-ventilator V, with which pipe T connects,rthe perforatedcross-pipe T2 withwhich said ventilator connects, and thespraying-nozzle, with its regulating-valve, opening into the pipe T atthe farther end from the ventilator.

2. The combination of the pipe T having bottom perforations or inletsslanting in the direction of the current, and valve R to close off theouter air, the perforated cross-pipe T having valves v, the suction-ventilator V,

with which pipe R connects,the box g with its cone-shaped bottom Aanddrip-conduit N, the perforated cross-pipe Tn leading from said box, andthe spraying-nozzle M with its regulating-valve N, opening into the pipeT at the farther end from the ventilator and between cross-pipe T andsaid ventilator.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my handin presence of twowitnesses.

PAUL KESTNER. Witnesses:

E. DUFoREs'r, PAIVE.

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